Roses Are Red, His Arc Reactor is Blue
by TheCinnamonTiger
Summary: What if there was a hidden visitor all throughout Tony's life? What if the Doctor and Rose found a little boy, small and innocent? What if he grew up before their eyes, watching his life change? What if he wasn't that small and innocent boy anymore?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 "Oh come on! It'll be fun!" he cried, looking at the blonde girl standing next to him.

"You don't even know where it'll take us." she said, trying desperately to hide a small smile creeping onto her face.

"That's the fun of it all." he said, an even bigger smile spreading across his own face.

She watched as he began flipping switches and pressing buttons in a seemingly disorganized and unorderly fashion. But he knew exactly what he was doing. After a moment, he took a step back and looked up at the roof of his ship. "Take us wherever!" he cried, seeming a little too excited.

The familiar noise of the TARDIS echoed through the room, filling up their ears. Moments later, the sound faded away and the ship landed. "Are you ready?" he asked, running up to her and clasping her hands in his.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she cried, jumping a little and smiling widely.

He put on his long, brown trench coat and ran to the door, motioning for her to follow. She ran over to him as he opened the door, peering outside. They seemed to be in a building, maybe a really nice house. It seemed kind of old fashioned though, covered in World War II era wallpaper and carpet. He stepped out hesitantly, gripping her hand. "Where are we?" she whispered, taking in their surroundings.

He shrugged, still looking around. "I'm not sure."

Then, the sound of quick footsteps filled the hall. They were the footsteps of a child, uneven and loud, coming quickly towards them. She took a step back as a young child rounded the corner and came face to face with the man and his blonde friend. And also the blue box behind them, it's door partly open to reveal a... bigger inside.

The boy had disheveled brown hair and big brown eyes, his lips parted slightly, peering up at the people standing in front of him. He was clutching what looked like a children's drawing of something, mostly scribbles, and had a black over sized t-shirt with a symbol (maybe a sun or just a circle, it was hard to tell) in the middle of his chest.

The boy hesitated when he saw the two and stared up at them, trying to make up his mind about them. They wouldn't hurt him... Right? "Hi." the girl said slowly, smiling down at him. "I'm Rose, and this is the Doctor. What's your name?"

The boy gripped his drawing tighter, his chocolatey eyes sparkling. "Tony." he said quietly, still unsure of the two.

"It's very nice to meet you, Tony." Rose said, smiling.

He didn't say anything, and instead trained his eyes on the Doctor, who was trying to make something of him too, like he knew something was going to happen to the small child.

"What's that a drawing of?" Rose asked, kneeling down so she was at eye level with Tony.

He didn't move for a moment, and then slowly walked forward, holding out his small hand and giving her the slightly crumpled piece of paper. She took it gently and unfolded it, looking past the scribbles and seeing what looked like a circle with a triangle in the middle of it. It was colored with a pastel blue, and seemed to stick out from the stick figures around it and what looked like an American flag that had been put on a shield in the corner of the page. "What's this a picture of?" Rose asked, pointing to the large blue circle.

Tony shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought of it."

"Well," she said, handing the drawing back to him. "You could be quite an artist one day." "

Thanks." he said shortly, still eyeing the Doctor warily.

Rose stood back up. "Shall we go? Don't want to traumatize this kid anymore." she said, smiling a little.

The Doctor nodded, a sudden smile appearing on his lips. "Of course! Wonderful to meet you, Tony. Take care of yourself!"

Tony hesitated, and then held out the picture. "You should keep it." he said, shoving the picture towards Rose.

Rose felt her heart melt as she took the picture. "Thank you." she whispered.

The Doctor took her hand and led her into the tardis flashing one last smile at the little boy. The two turned and disappeared into the blue box, and moments later, as Tony watched, the blue box disappeared completely, gone from the room. He ran forward, trying to find where the blue box had gone, the sound of it leaving seared in his young mind, but it was nowhere to be found.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Years passed for Tony as he celebrated birthday after birthday, getting older and closer to taking over his father's company.

And then, one day, he received news that Howard Stark and Maria Stark, were dead. Died in a car crash. How the car crash came about, nobody knew. But that left Stark Industries in the hands of their only son, Tony.

He ran the company successfully for many years, working sometimes, but more often than not drinking and staying at clubs all night. He had forgotten about the little drawing he had done that one day so many years ago and the little blue circle with the triangle, but he never forgot that blue box, and the two people that disappeared inside it.

Sometimes, he thought it was just a dream, a figment of his imagination. But the more he thought about it, and the more he could remember the details of the box and the two people's faces, the more real it seemed. And he believed with all his heart that it was real.

But he never told anyone. He never said what he had seen, the two people and the little blue box that had shown up in the hallway one day after he had finished drawing in his room.

But that was years ago. He hardly ever thought about that anymore. He buried it with the rest of his childhood memories, only living in the present. The little blue box, The Doctor, and Rose were just memories. Nothing more.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Where do you want to go now?" the Doctor asked, flashing a smile at Rose.

She thought for a moment. There were so many possibilities! She could go anywhere! "I want to see that little boy again." she said descively.

"What? What little boy?"

"The one that we met in that house! Remember, he was really young, and he had a drawing, and-"

"Oh, that little boy. Why?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I'd just like to say hi again. Sometimes a kid needs that." she said, smiling.

The Doctor didn't necessarily want to go on a social visit, but if it was for Rose... "Alright." he said, and began flipping switches and levers again, pressing buttons and hitting things with a little rubber mallet.

Rose waited anxiously, smiling as The Doctor worked. Finally, when he finished, he put his trench coat on again and walked to the door. "We should be only a few weeks since the last time you saw him." he said, opening the door for her.

She walked out, ready to say hi the the adorable little boy she had seen only a few adventures ago. Ready to congratulate him on another little drawing that young children do. Ready to say that she had missed him. But as she stepped out, she saw a perfectly manicured lawn on a starlit night. There was a beautiful modern house a few hundred feet away, and a group of expensive cars parked out front. Music was coming loudly from the house and there were colorful lights flashing from the windows. Rose glanced at The Doctor, but neither of them said anything.

They walked towards the house but were stopped by a man with a name tag that said 'Happy' before they got in. "Invitations?" he asked, looking down at them.

"Uh," the Doctor fumbled around and pulled out his blank paper and held it up, an invitation showing up as he showed it to Happy. "Two invitations for the Doctor and Rose Tyler." he said, flashing a smile.

"Go on in." Happy said in a bored tone, opening the door for them.

Inside was a mess of alcohol and girls in skimpy clothing. There were men playing cards at tables, and some of them were drinking and laughing. Some people were dancing and there was a DJ booth at the head of the room.

And hidden in the midst of it all, was one man. He had slicked back brown hair and red tinted sunglasses even though he was inside and it was nighttime. But through the sunglasses and the mess of girls all trying to get close to him, Rose could see the same brown eyes. Glittering and sparkling, but something looked broken underneath them.

"Is that..." Rose trailed off.

The Doctor frowned. "I suppose I could have made a mistake, but I don't think it would have been off that many years. Maybe that's his father."

Rose hoped it was, but she didn't think so. Every fiber in her being told her that that was the little boy she had seen before. He looked so different now. His hair was longer and he had goatee. But his eyes looked harder. Colder. The innocent little boy he had been only days ago in her life was gone. She pushed through the crowd of girls and laughing men, trying to get closer to him. Finally, she was standing right in front of him. "Tony?" she asked, her heart beating into her throat.

He paused, and then turned around to look at her. And for just an instant, she thought she saw a remnant of the boy she remembered. The young child that was carrying around a messy drawing and wearing an oversized t-shirt. And then it was gone. "Do I know you?" he asked, peering over the top of the sunglasses at her.

She frowned, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "Are you Tony? Because if you are, then yes, you do. " she said quietly.

A girl from behind her laughed loudly. "What do you think you're here for? To celebrate somebody else's birthday? Stupid blonde!" Apparently the girl didn't realize that she was blonde too.

Rose ignored her. A smile appeared on Tony's face as he looked down at Rose. He was slightly taller than her now, as before she had to kneel down to be eye level with him. "Tony Stark. That's me. Don't be offended if I don't remember your name, it's nothing personal." he said, winking at her. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

He turned and whisked away into the crowd, followed by a train of stupid girls all trying their hardest to be as close to him as possible. Rose stood very still for a long time. She didn't move until she felt the Doctor's hand on her shoulder. "He's all grown up." she said quietly as she watched Tony laugh and begin to play poker with a large group of people.

The Doctor didn't say anything for a long time. Without a word, he led Rose out of the house and back to the tardis, which looked slightly out of place next to all of the shiny, expensive cars.

And so the Doctor took her away, leading her on another adventure.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tony didn't remember Rose. Sure, he thought she looked familiar, but there were a lot of blonde girls that came and left in his life. He didn't remember them all.

And so, for years more, his life continued in this way. He hid himself with parties and drink, almost completely forgetting about the blonde girl and the little blue box with the Doctor.

Finally, his moment came. He was sent to do a missile demonstration that should have only lasted a few days. He didn't come home for two months. He was kidnapped by a group of terrorists after the weapons of Stark Industries. And that was where the real Tony Stark began. The moment he saw the circle embedded in his chest, the moment it lit up, feeding power to his dying heart and keeping him alive. The moment he refused to build the Jericho Missile for the terrorists, and the moment he decided he was breaking out of his captivity. And the moment he became something more, the moment he watched Yinsen die, was the moment he became an Avenger. And that was the moment, when the little boy that Rose missed, was changed. When that little boy couldn't go back to being young and innocent ever again.


End file.
